On the afternoon of Aug. 4, 2002, a Piper Mirage was in cruise flight above 10,000 feet in the vicinity of Benton Harbor, Mich., when the engine failed. The pilot reported the problem and the controller gave him vectors to the final approach course at Southwest Michigan Regional Airport.

Despite visual meteorological conditions at the time, the pilot followed vectors on a long downwind and he crashed a mile east of runway 27. All three aboard were killed. The question is why. …